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Abstract
This qualitative study presents an exploration of the changing nature of faculty-administration relationships on American college and university campuses, the nature of disputes in which faculty have been involved with their institutions of higher learning, how the contexts in which conflicts have arisen have changed over time, and the relative importance of academic freedom and issues of substantive and procedural due process in actions taken against and initiated by college and university faculty. Review of 940 reported court cases and 202 reports of investigations conducted by Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure of the American Association of University Professors published in Academe from 1940 through 1996 provided data for analyzing changes over time in the nature of issues affecting academic responsibilities and independence, as well as how events in society at large affected relationships between faculty and their administrations in colleges and universities. The study provides an empirical foundation for analyzing the efficacy of mechanisms to prevent or resolve faculty-related disputes and protect the academic freedom and due process necessary for preserving the vital function higher education performs in an open, free, democratic society.
